Slamdance Announces Partial Line-up: Dramatic Films

Slamdance Announces Partial Line-up: Dramatic Films

The Slamdance International Film Festival announced its 1997competition films today, in addition to two of the special out-of-competitionfilms, and the closing night film that will screen at January’s event. Amongthe ten competition films are five world premieres and two US premieres, andall ten are from first-time directors. In a prepared statement, SlamdanceExecutive director John Fitzgerald said that “there were an overwhelmingnumber of films submitted by female directors.” Indeed, 4 of the 10competition films are made by women. Fitzgerald went on to say that with“close to 1,000 submissions this year, it’s clear there’s a need foralternative venues.”

Although the opening night film has not been announced, the closer will be“Sweethearts“, a romantic-comedy by Aleks Horvat, starring Janeane Garofalo,Bobcat Goldthwait, and, Margaret Cho. The 1997 festival runs from January17-23, and takes place at the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, UT.

The world premiere competition films are: “A Gun, A Car, A Blonde“, by Stefani Ames, starring Billy Bob Thornton, John Ritter, and Kay Lenz; “Pieces“, written and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo; “The Maze“, written and directed by Joelle Bentolila and starring: Sally Kellerman, Richard Lewis, GiancarloEsposito, Pamela Gidley, and Cheryl Pollack; “The Gaugin Museum“, directed by21 year-old Alexander Kane on his summer vacation between his junior andsenior year at Vassar; and “Take a Number“, written and directed by FritziHorstman.

The US premieres are “Nowhere Fast“, the debut film by Spike Lee’s brother,Cinque and “The Size of Watermellons“, a film by Kari Skogland starring PaulRudd (“Clueless“), Donal Logue, Ione Sky (“Say Anything“, “The Rachel Papers“), and her brother, Donovan Leitch. The remaining three films are: “Eight Days a Week“, written, produced, and directed by Michael Davis; “The Bible and Gun Club“, written, produced, and directed by Daniel J. Harris; and “Driven“, by Michael Paradies Shoob. The latter two films screened at last October’s Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF).

The two special screenings that have been announced are: the world premiereof Eric Schaeffer’s sophomore solo effort, “Fall“, starring Amanda DeCadenetand Schaeffer, and “Schizopolis“, by writer/director Stephen Soderbergh, whichscreened out-of-competition at HIFF.

The rest of the field – shorts, foreign, and documentary sections – will beannounced shortly, bringing the total number of films to about 40.